Husband Sues Over Wife's Death

Town Among Those Named In Legal Action

January 24, 2004|By CHRISTINE DEMPSEY; Courant Staff Writer

MANCHESTER — The husband of a 24-year-old mother killed in an explosion at a gasoline station two years ago has filed a lawsuit against the owners of the property, the operator and the town, claiming they did not take enough precautions to prevent her death.

In addition to the town, the lawsuit, filed in the town clerk's office on the two-year anniversary of the crash, names Dorothy and James Thibodeau of Florida, who owned the property at 204 Hartford Road; DB Companies Inc. of Hartford, which leased it; and Sohail Lodhi of Manchester, the operator, who subleased the property. The gas station has since been leveled.

Missing from the list of defendants is Axel Kjellberg, the man who police said caused the accident. Separate legal action over the estate of Kjellberg -- who died eight months later -- has been initiated, said David Rosen, who represents Joseph Wright, the husband of Kristie O'Connell Wright.

``We will recover whatever limited amount is coming from that,'' Rosen said Friday.

Just before 7 p.m. on Jan. 22, 2002, Wright and another woman were chatting at the DB Mart pumps as they put gas in their cars. A Ford Escort driven by Kjellberg, 67, of West Hartford, went through the stop sign at Pine Street, which is across Hartford Road from the station. The car slammed into the pumps, sparking a fireball. Both women were thrown into the air. One survived, but Wright was thrown against the convenience store's wall and died.

Kjellberg died the following September of complications that developed when he was hospitalized after the crash. His death certificate states he died of respiratory failure and pneumonia, and that he had Parkinson's disease. Parkinson's can cause tremors, rigidity and slowness of movement. Witnesses said they saw him driving erratically before the accident.

Police were never able to interview Kjellberg, but they suspected a medical condition had contributed to the crash.

The night Wright died, she was on her way to her apartment, just up the street, to celebrate her daughter's second birthday.

The lawsuit states that the Thibodeaus did not protect the gas pumps with barriers. It also says the plans for the store that had been submitted to the town called for hedges, but ``even that protection was absent.''

The lawsuit also said the clerk working that night failed to push a ``big, red button,'' which would have shut off gasoline flow to the pumps. Authorities at the scene said an automatic shutoff did work, however.

The lawsuit also says the town should have maintained a higher curb or other barrier between the road and the store. The intersection of Pine Street and Hartford Road has been the scene of many accidents, the lawsuit states.

Joseph Hachey, a member of the town's board of directors, said he doesn't know of a law requiring barriers.

``I can't think of a facility in town that requires a guardrail,'' he said.